Gentle Leader Transforms Garbage-Eating Rottweiler into Ideal Walking Companion

Friday, September 26th, 2008 at 1:08 pm

It’s absolutely true, and it happened right here. Our darling Rottie Lola was a total nuisance to walk on leash… any walk with her in our neighborhood or in the mountains close behind us was an erratic tour from one possible munchie to the next.

We currently live in a town in Mexico where garbage collection can be intermittent, and several times Lola ended up with diarrhea. It’s almost always my husband who walks her — partly because I have been afraid of not being able to handle Lola in the event of an untoward encounter with one or more of the large street dogs we sometimes see.

A solution was needed, seriously and soon. Lola and Kelly needed those long walks for exercise and fun. He bought a muzzle from our veterinarian here, and I trained Lola to accept wearing it by using lots of treats offered through it before gradually buckling it. She never reached

the point of being happy with it, and Kelly never quite got around to walking her with it. Luckily, at about a quarter of an acre, our yard is large enough that lots of wild romps gave Lola some pretty decent exercise.

Next, I ordered a kind of head halter called a Gentle Leader from Sitstay, as I hadn’t found one at any of the pet supply stores in our area. They had several sizes, and guidance about which one to get for a Rottweiler. I hadn’t seen any Haltis locally either; they are similar but since I’d heard that Dr. Ian Dunbar has praised the Gentle Leader, I was inclined towards it.

Getting the thing here was easy, as a friend was coming to visit from the US. (I blog about life in Mexico over at my site Mexico with Heart, but for the purposes of this story, suffice it to say that we don’t rely on the mails here.) So it arrived and got tossed into a “things to do” pile for a little while.

But quite soon, one morning I got the Gentle Leader out. Now one regrettable fact is that I am a klutz with my hands. Luckily, Kelly more than makes up for my lacks in this department, so it didn’t take long before he was figuring out how to put the Gentle Leader on Lola. It comes with detailed instructions on DVD which we followed carefully.

I had my usual high-level treats handy, tiny bits of hot dog, about 1/100th of a hot dog each. Lola soon had the Gentle Leader on. Kelly and I haggled a bit over how tight the neck strap and nose straps should be, but eventually we got it pretty close to how the instructions showed it. I think this is essential in the halter working properly and being safe.

Kelly walked the dog around our yard a bit and so did I. Lola didn’t seem to mind the thing on her face — maybe because the muzzle had been worse. We did use a short leash rather than our usual Flexi-style leash, and we have continued with this. The combination of a long leash and a Gentle Leader can cause the dog to be injured in some circumstances. It would be counter-productive, too, as you wouldn’t have enough control when the leash was extended.

That afternoon, man and Rottweiler headed out for their regular hike. They were gone quite a while. I was writing an article, but rather distractedly, waiting for their return.

“She was perfect!” Kelly said when they got home. She has continued to be perfect. She is gradually really understanding that heeling is the best way to go walking, and over time we may use the Gentle Leader less. We’ll see.

Where to Get a Gentle Leader?

As I mentioned, I got mine from Sitstay. Click on the Promotion Code DOGLOVER and save 10% on your next order. This link takes you to their homepage, then just click on Collars, Harnesses and Gentle Leader is one of the choices. On each Gentle Leader page, they have some very useful comments about Gentle Leaders. Plus they carry them in all sizes and a gazillion colors.

Dogwise doesn’t carry them. I went to Amazon to get a link from there, only to discover that Sitstay fills the order, so you may as well go right to Sitstay anyway. (I do like to support small businesses, specially ones as well run as this one and when the prices are about the same.

And here’s a link, with a picture of a Gentle Leader, from Only Natural Pet Store, where I sometimes also get supplies:

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!

Bonnie Brown

Hi Rosana,

I think that unless someone is infirm and can’t do the training with a dog, that the head collars like the Gentle Leader are a quick fix that aren’t particularly good for dogs. I have had clients that put them on 4 month old puppies who just need exercise and whose owners need to make themselves more exciting, rather than putting on a restrictive collar of any sort. I see many dogs who look depressed in the head halter type collars and their owners don’t realize that they are “training” collars – not something that should be worn forever. I had a Norwegian Elkhound who pulled like hell but I used the stop/start method and worked with her on a long-line and finally she learned to walk on a slack leash. Yes, it took much effort and time, but that’s what dog training is about. The masses out here want quick fixes for everything and people don’t want to take the time to really do any training.

Sincerely,

Bonnie Brown
Dog Trainer
Bonnie’s Here! Dog Training
Rosana Hart

Bonnie, thanks for your comments.

While you and I are on somewhat different places on the opinion-spectrum regarding the utility of head collars, I do agree with you that dog training can take much time and effort.

We do live in a ‘quick fix’ era, and the way I see it, part of that is inevitably going to continue and maybe even get worse. Worldwide, people seem to be rushed and stressed, and the economic, political, and environmental challenges are showing no signs of letting up. These take their toll on quality of life.

In this website, I try to find the most effective methods that can help people who do not feel they have the time to train extensively. Of course often, not having the time is really a matter of not having the confidence and I try to address that too. AND I love reviewing new books and pointing out other resources for anyone who cares to dig deeper.

(Hmm, wonder if that metaphor has anything to do with the new hole in our back yard, the first time Lola and Larry have dug deeper together.)
Nancy Whitley

We also used the Gentle Leader headcollar with our large lab. It worked well in nearly all circumstances, but let another large, friendly dog approach and we were unable to restrain our dog by voice command or the Gentle Leader. (We’re in that category called “the elderly” and this lab is very much stronger than we.) Our vet happened to observe this (harmless) incident, which could instantly be a real problem–the dog either pulling us down or causing us to fall, or in meeting an aggressive animal, unable to keep him away from an attack. Our vet said, “Get a Gentle Harness–it will solve that problem immediately–no training required–seriously!” Really? “No training” left us dubious, but our vet was right! Problem solved immediately! It is unlike all other harnesses and VERY SIMPLE to use. Now we have two dogs, and each one loves the Gentle Harness–no choking, no pulling, no commands–ENJOY YOUR WALKS!

It comes in colors–blue, red, or black (maybe more) combined with one segment that is gray. The two-color scheme simplifies putting it together–buckle colored segments together, buckle gray segments together. Thereafter, buckle and unbuckle only the gray segments, which fit under the dog’s chest behind the front legs (neither the animal nor you need to go through any contortions getting in or out of this harness). And NO ONE has stopped to comment that “it’s mean to use that thing”, as they did when using the Gentle Leader headcollar. When the colored straps are buckled together they form a loop you just move over the dog’s head to drape over the shoulders and across the front of the chest, where you attach the leash to the martingale section. Our dogs like it so much they walk into the loop when we hold it and then stand perfectly still while we buckle the gray segment. It has given us the most enjoyable walks we’ve ever had with our dogs!
Rosana Hart

Thanks, Nancy. It sound great. Considering how many dogs drag their owners around, it should be well known!
Pingback: About the Gentle Leader - Dog Training Blog: Positive Pain-Free Methods